To view photos of the current exhibit in Sao Paulo until April 6, please visit: http://curatorialproject.com/exhibitions/harryseidlerinsaopaulo.html

The book Harry Seidler: Lifework is released today by Rizzoli in stores and on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Seidler-LifeWork-Vladimir-Belogolovsky/dp/0847842282/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396370769&sr=1-1&keywords=seidler http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847842285

Harry Seidler – Architect

1923 – 2006

Harry Seidler was born in Vienna

In World War Two Harry Seidler escaped to England (he was the son of a prosperous Jewish merchant) when the Germany occupied Austria in 1938.

In England, Harry Seidler studied building and construction at the Cambridgeshire Technical School. In 1940, he was interned by the UK, and extradited to Quebec, Canada. He was released in 1941 on parole from internment to study architecture at the University of Manitoba.

Harry Seidler later studied under emigrant Bauhaus teachers in the USA – attending Harvard Graduate School of Design under Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer on a scholarship in 1945-46, during which time he did vacation work with Alvar Aalto in Boston drawing up plans for the Baker dormitory at MIT. Harry Seidler then attended Black Mountain College under the painter Josef Albers, and then worked for Marcel Breuer in New York. Harry Seidler also worked in the studio of the architect Oscar Niemeyer in Rio de Janeiro.

Harry Seidler’s parents migrated to New South Wales, Australia and commissioned him to design their home which became known as the Rose Seidler House in Wahroonga, New South Wales (1948-50). This project was the first domestic residence to fully express the philosophy of the Bauhaus in Australia.

In the 1960s Harry Seidler again broke new ground with his radical design for the Australia Square project (1961-67). At the time Australia Square was the world’s tallest light weight concrete building. The design introduced the two principles of incorporating large public open spaces and circular forms to office towers in Australia.

Harry Seidler was a founding member of the Australian Architecture Association. In 1984 Harry became the first Australian to be elected a member of the Académie d’architecture, Paris and in 1987 was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Over the years Harry Seidler was also awarded five Sulman Medals by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

Harry Seidler – Key Awards

1966 Honorary Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects 1976 RAIA Gold Medal from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects 1987 Companion of the Order of Australia 1990 Gold Medal City of Vienna 1992 Officer of the Order of the British Empire 1996 Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1996 Austrian Badge of Honour for Science and Art